Postpartum Is a Season, Not a Moment—Building Your Plan for Recovery and Return to Work
Step 1: Honor Your Experience
Research shows birth memories stay vivid for life, and respectful care shapes whether they feel empowering or distressing (Simkin 1991).
Debriefing soon after birth helps integrate the story before stress hardens into trauma.
Step 2: Create a Simple Timeline
A one-page timeline of events—admission, interventions, feeding, golden hour—helps rebuild context and meaning later. It’s not medical; it’s memory support.
Step 3: Protect Mental Health for You and Your Partner
Learn urgent warning signs (CDC Hear Her).
Know that intimate-partner violence can spike in pregnancy (CDC MMWR 2024).
Save these supports: Postpartum Support International Helpline (1-800-944-4773) and the Maternal Mental Health Hotline (1-833-TLC-MAMA).
Consider community programs like Parents as Teachers for early-childhood guidance (Parents as Teachers).
Step 4: Plan Realistic Sleep and Feeding
Ask: What’s your happy number of hours of sleep?
Example: Nurse 8:30 p.m., partner bottle-feeds 11:30 p.m., you sleep 6 hours, nurse again, then rest 2–3 hours = 8–9 total.
If sleep or appetite vanish, reach out—these are red flags.
Step 5: Know Your Workplace Rights
PUMP Act: Right to break time and a private (non-bathroom) pumping space for one year (DOL Fact Sheet #73).
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act: Requires reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related limitations (EEOC guide).
Step 6: Work With Support
Postpartum coaching keeps rest, nutrition, movement, and emotional reflection on your radar—and creates accountability as you transition back to leadership at home and work.